KCRW Exclusive: Stream Photek – Aviator

Ibiza is a famous hot spot for dance music. Especially this time of year, when the International Music Summit, co-founded by Pete Tong, comes to town. Our very own Music Director Jason Bentley not only got a chance to spin at the breathtaking UNESCO World Heritage site in Dalt Vila but also reported back, via tweet, on what new music was catching the ears of the attendees clubbing into the early morning hours…

“Photek’s “Aviator” proved a potent weapon in Ibiza last week. It’s one of those big records that stops people dead in their tracks. Among the current crop of dance music, tempos generally clock in somewhere north of 128 beats per minute while “Aviator” bucks that trend by boldly downshifting to the 110 BPM range without losing urgency of the moment. This future funk tour de force serves notice that Photek is back and badder than ever.”

Photek is British born producer/DJ Rupert Parkes, who now resides in Los Angeles, and “Aviator” is the title track off his most recent EP. He is in the process of releasing a series of EPs, in hopes of putting the best tracks onto one full album at the end. His most recent was the “Avalanche” EP, released at the end of February. The full “Aviator” EP will be out on June 13 and you can grab another track, “Cecconi“, here.

Photek came from the drum and bass world, but has moved into a more diverse style of electronic music, even gong so far as to do remixes for KCRW faves like Zero 7 and, more recently, Daft Punk on the TRON LegacyR3CONF1GUR3D collection.